We Shall Meet In The Place Where There Is No Darkness
by Eletoile
Summary: Kara Zor-El of Krypton was betrothed since before her birth to Alexander Luthor future King of the Kingdom of Earth an alliance sorely needed by both Kingdoms. However, the Earth kingdom forbade anyone with the gift of magic, so how would they feel if they ever discovered that their future queen was bestowed with such a gift? Kara had always been able to keep it under control, but
1. Chapter I - Kara

Chapter I - Kara

From the day I was born I was promised...betrothed. My entire life had been a preparation for that betrothal-a lesson in duty. My name is Kara Zor-El of Krypton, daughter to the head of the science guild and, therefore, a member of Kryton's leading noble family. Other societies, I have learned, would call my family royalty, but Krypton never had any such thing. In our past, there have been coups to place a monarch on the throne, of course, or in any case an emperor at the very least (royalty without the heredity necessity). These had been smashing failures. Turns out, in a fiercely aristocratic society, nobles do not want to be under the thumb of a ruler who could reign in their wildly wide-reaching power and influence. Why should they? The caste-based society meant that those in power always remained in power and the working force never had a chance to reach higher than their means.

When I was younger, I'd never seen any of this as a problem. I couldn't fully comprehend what it all meant. However, all of that changed when my studies began. I was subjected to dual lessons-those of my homeland and those teaching me of the etiquettes or histories of the land that would be my home when I was of marrying age-the kingdom of Earth. Earth bordered our nation to the south-west and was diplomatically important to us because without a treaty with them we were cut off in totality from the southern lands. Our allegiance with the kingdom to the south-east, Terres-Interdites, had recently been crumbling beyond repair. Not that a true alliance was ever formed between our two nations. More simply, Terres-Interdites was a land without rulers, without structure. Filled with various city-states that ruled themselves and could be easily bought off through trade of goods and natural resources they didn't have in that god-forsaken desert land. It had been like this for years, since long before I was born, but tensions had shifted. Not enough to change the arrangements, of course, but enough to cause Krypton to look towards other allies. Krypton had always prided itself on being thirty steps ahead of everywhere else, of course. "Prior planning prevents piss poor execution," is what my father would always tell me-and it might as well have been Krypton's official motto.

It is these circumstances that led to my betrothal. The Queen and King of the Earth Kingdom, the dynastic monarchy of the Luthors, had a son born a few years before me. When my mother became pregnant, my family began negotiations with the Luthors for a betrothal that would unite our kingdoms for generations to come. Thus, I had been born betrothed to Alexander Luthor, the future king of the kingdom of Earth and the duty had weighed heavily on my shoulders my entire twenty-four years. Marriages in Krypton always occurred by one's twenty-fifth trip around Rao, our sun, and, thus, this was my final journey around the sun in freedom, and my time in Krypton was drawing rapidly near finality. My freedom sold in duty to the kingdom I'd seen very little of. The harsh winters up in our crowning city, flanked by mountains, meant for over a fourth of a year one couldn't even leave Argo City or the surrounding villages. However, that's not what prevented me from traveling. How could I find the time when I was constantly with tutors preparing for a life of duty? In my mind, these lessons were more akin to preparing a pig for the slaughter.

It was, through these lessons, however, that I learned something important. The Earth kingdom had no caste system. People were free to move up based on their own merit and hard work. The capacity for human treatment, at least in these books, seemed better than the subjugation Krypton placed on its lower classes. While this aspect of Earth society seemed great, there were also many troubling things I'd learned about the kingdom. They considered any use of "magic" terrifying and anyone that had magic "cursed". In Krypton, however, these abilities were considered gifts, as it was incredibly rare that a person was blessed with such things and we believed a person who was touched by Rao. When the gift was bestowed upon a member of the nobility, there was always a celebration feast in the family's honour welcoming the gifted child. These events were grand and lavish affairs and granted an automatic induction into the Magic Guild. When a member of the proletariat was gifted, I'd read they held a similar feast in their village on a much smaller scale.

I found it strange, then, that my own gift was never celebrated nor did word of it leave the confines of my family. It was our best-kept secret, the needle in the haystack of secrets kept by the Zor-Els. My family was said to be descended from Rao, yet we hadn't ever had a member touched by his gift until me and instead of a celebration there was denial and cover-up.

I was never taught to properly use it, nor how to truly control it. Members of my family simply acted as if it didn't exist at all. If they saw my eyes glow orange in anger, I was simply told to settle down. I was assigned one tutor, in the guise of a physical education tutor, whose sole job was to teach me different ways to calm myself, through meditation and other means, and that is as far as any training I received went. It wasn't until I learned about the Earth kingdom's aversion to magic that any of it made sense.

Throughout my lessons, I had always wondered why Earth could not see the importance of these gifts. It was explained to me that the Earth kingdom worshipped many gods, a pantheon, and it was taught there that if a person was gifted by one god it would anger the others and throw off the balance of the kingdom. All gifts had affinities, of course: fire, water, and air. It was very rare for any individual to be granted more than one gift. However, if the Earth kingdom learned of such a person, rumour had it they were executed under the name of "safety" and "balance". Many members of the Earth Kingdom that presented with these gifts were swiftly sent away by their families to Terres-Interdites. There was no execution penalty for simple magic users, however, they were not welcome to practice magic freely within the confines of the Earth Kingdom. The city-states in Terres-Interdites were created as small bands of different affinities. In this land, people were safe to learn and practice magics openly. The Earth kingdom counted on this freedom outside their borders, and the notion that the temperaments of the different affinities would most likely prevent the various city-states from uniting under one banner.

However, things were slowly shifting in Terres-Interdites. The city-states grew restless and irritated with the harsh conditions and the constant need to purchase basic necessities and resources from their neighbouring kingdoms. Earth conscripted more legions for their army and sent a full one-third of the legionaries to the border with Terres-Interdites. The growing unrest, while slow, caused them to create a treaty of open borders and friendship with Krypton. Krypton, in return, would send members of the science guild to improve the Earth kingdom's weapons and enhance the rudimentary science the Earthlings possessed. They would also place a Kryptonian noble on the seat of the wealthiest throne as the Earthen queen-me.

What would a kingdom that loathed magic users do if they found out their soon-to-be princess and future Queen was gifted with the same magic they sanctioned as evil because it terrified them? Days before I was set to leave the towering spires of Argo City to begin my journey towards my life in Earth I walked through a garden with my Aunt Astra, General of the Kryptonian army. We talked about the recurring dream I had dealt with since childhood. In the dream, my eyes were operated on to stop my gift from presenting itself. The features of her angular and beautiful face softened, clearly resolute on giving me answers to a nightmare she knew had plagued me my entire life, consequences be damned.

"Little one, you never lost control. Never once has fiery heat shot from your eyes. It is why your mother and father thought you strong enough to hide it without training."

"How did they learn of my gift then?" I asked, but the answer was clear in my mind-the nightmare wasn't exactly that, it was a memory.

My aunt looked uncomfortable and at a loss, something I'd never seen from our stalwart general and my closest ally.

"You were born with orange eyes. They were the most beautiful amber colour I'd ever seen, with flecks of red the exact colour of Rao. I pleaded with your parents...but it was for your own safety. They altered the colour, I picked a sky blue. The surgery of your nightmares was the colour altering. But you must understand, Kara. This alliance has to happen. It must. For the safety of our kingdom and our way of life."

The safety of our kingdom and way of life.

I pondered those words in silence wondering what exactly it was that wasn't being told to me. I tried pressing my aunt for more answers, but she just brushed me off saying she'd already said too much.

It was with this heavy conversation plaguing my conscience that I began my journey to Earth. I spent a good portion of the journey refreshing myself on things I had known for years. They had always been a distant idea, not a present reality, however. So I studied as if my very life and duty depended on it, which I suppose in a way, it did.

The Luthors had been on the throne of Earth for over ten generations. They had taken the throne from the then royal family in a bloody war that stained Earth's beautiful grass fields red. However, before they rose to the throne, the kingdom had been in tumult and they restored order. Earth was an incredibly natural resource-laden kingdom and the Luthors were wealthy beyond imagining due to this. The current King and Queen were Lionel and Lillian Luthor. All reports indicated that Lionel was as magnanimous as Lillian was cold. The information on them and on Alexander was quite prolific. Yet Alexander's sister and their daughter seemed to be a separate entity. The information on her was sparse, and from the many portraits I had seen of the Luthors over the years, Lady Lena had only ever been present in one. The Luthor clan were a fair-haired lot, Lillian with a light brown, Lionel with his sandy blonde hair and Alexander with his red locks-all of them sharing the same shining blue eyes. But I remembered Lena the best, raven hair and green eyes that didn't quite fit in. A smile that, while beautiful, seemed broken. This, of course, could have simply been an artist's rendering that did not reflect the true nature of her smile. However, I also recalled that Lillian, Lionel and Alexander were clustered so closely together and Lena was just a little too far off to the side to really seem a part of the group.

I knew I should be most excited to meet Alexander, the person who I was going to have to share my life with. But the information on him was ample and he seemed like far less of a mystery than Lena. Mysteries had always intrigued me and, thus, I found myself drawn to the mystery sister and decided to make it my mission to befriend her upon my arrival. After all, I could certainly use all the friends I could find in this new place. The most information I had on Lena was a notion that she was wild and didn't follow the rules. Also, I had heard a piece of rumoured information from a guard at the outside the science guild once, talking gossip about a recent scandal Alexander had been wrapped up in, an entanglement with a lady-in-waiting at court, about Lena's parentage. The guardsmen postulated that Alexander was just like his father and would take a mistress, after all, that is evidently how Lena came about. It was just a rumour, of course, possibly preposterous, but I was haunted by the broken smile in the painting and thought, privately, that this particular rumour was probably rooted in truth.

The carriage ride to Krypton took a fortnight, and I was cramped and stir-crazy upon my arrival. My entourage was, thankfully, quite small. My aunt rode with me for protection, the two drivers sat in front, and otherwise, that was all. I was to receive a maid from provided by the royal family when I arrived.

Fifteen minutes before my arrival, my aunt again warned me of the dangers of letting loose my gift (which no longer felt like a gift to me, but a curse) and reminded me that Krypton's future depended on this alliance. With the hopes of a nation saddled to me, I stepped out of the carriage and onto the uneven cobblestone and into the throng of the entire royal household of the kingdom of Earth.

As my driver presented me, I felt woefully underdressed. The royal family looked astonishing in finely tailored and pressed suits and dresses, each trimmed with gold thread. Meanwhile, I donned a rumpled dress that had seen eight hours in a carriage that day. It was a simple affair, even, as I did not have my maid with me to put on a dress properly and Astra was more than useless in such occasion. My blue and red seemed inelegant compared to their bright whites and golds. I curtsied low, nonetheless, my head slowly angling to see if I could see Princess Lena. I did not, and began rising from my low curtsy when a figure crashed into me pushing me over and knocking me underneath one of the horses drawing my carriage.

Chaos broke out all around us, which startled the horse I was underneath and its hoof was within an inch of kicking me in the ribs when I was deftly rolled out of the way by the person who had crashed into me. I ended up on top of the person, breathing heavily from the startle, the heat prickled the back of my eyes but not enough to show through. When I finally caught my breath enough, I turned my face to look at the person who had both endangered me and saved me and found myself looking into the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Suddenly, it was as if the magic swirling within me was too large for my person and wanted to explode forth to crash into her. I slammed my eyes shut to quell the burning urge and before long she was pushing herself off me and grabbing my hand to pull me up. I felt the lack of her warmth against me immediately and kept my eyes closed as the burning intensified.

I ran my ring and middle fingers against my palm back and forth repeatedly, a calming motion I had utilized since childhood and began a slow count in my head until the burning behind my eyes subsided enough that I felt safe opening them. Princess Lena leaned in and whispered into my ear, "Welcome to Earth, Kara," breaking all protocol by not addressing me by my title and, further, by winking at me as a slow mischievous smile broke across her face, lighting up her features in a way that wasn't present in that portrait I'd seen of her all those years ago. King Lionel came forward in an attempt to salvage the situation.

"Good evening and well met, Lady Kara of Krypton. Please allow me to apologize for my perpetually late, and evidently recently clumsy, daughter Lady Lena and may I present you my wife, Queen of Earth, Lillian and our son Prince Alexander." Alexander stepped forward, wearing all white with golden embroidery. He looked elegant and comfortable in his royal attire, a charming smile hung on his face as if he was born with it there. He knelt down on one knee, and took my hand to kiss the top of it softly.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, my lady."

"And you, my lord,"

I murmured back to him whilst shifting my eyes over to look at Lena. She looked uncomfortable in her black velvet dress as if she were unused to it, and her face held an air of impassiveness far removed from the playful wink and mischievous smile present only moments ago. My eyes burned at the sight of her and I had to close them again.

Queen Lillian did not deem me worthy to step forth and greet and stayed silent, looking warily at me from behind her husband and son. Her coldness sent shivers through me and I found myself wishing I was anywhere but standing in front of my carriage paraded like a prized offering. I met Lena's eyes once more a small and sympathetic smile flashed quickly across her face before her face reverted into the well-practiced impassivity she must have learned from Queen Lillian.

"Well, my lady, shall we show you to your rooms so that you may have time to freshen up and get acquainted with your surroundings before the feast?"

It was Alexander speaking again, his voice dutiful, but not necessarily unkind. I had trouble finding my words, the numbers counting in my head growing higher and higher, so I merely nodded at him and hoped the thankful smile on my face would convey how grateful I felt to be removed from the fanfare.

The castle walls were made of large sturdy stone covered with tapestries and paintings to help insulate the castle against the cold nights. In Krypton, our residences were made of marble and intricately laid metalworks that made this stone dwelling beautiful in its own way, but also primitive to me. The hearth in my chamber was large and sitting beside it was a girl poking at the fire. She jumped up quickly when she heard me enter, spinning around as if she was surprised I'd arrived so quickly.

"Hi, I'm Alex I'll be your maid," she said quickly a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

This girl did not look like a maid at all, however, she had the arms and stature of a warrior. She was a little shorter than me but beneath her black riding outfit, you could see the definition in her muscles.

"Kara," I replied.

"I heard you met Lady Lena in a quite the glorious manner," Alex replied, as a means of an ice-breaker.

"Oh, quite," my eyes burned at the thought of Lena. "She sure is something else," I said, for lack of any better way to describe her.

"Well, don't worry miss, you probably won't run into her too often," Alex grinned, amused at her wording, "she rarely bothers to show up for any royal events she is supposed to attend, including dinner. In fact, I'm surprised she even showed up to greet you."

Alex began making herself busy putting away the items in my trunk and she and my aunt exchanged nods as if they knew one another. Afterward Astra quietly dismissed herself to go to her quarters down the hall. Alex and I readied me for the feast. As far as maids go, however, Alex didn't seem to have any clue what she was doing and I found myself handling clothing myself. Alex's response to this whole endeavour was to simply say she wasn't used to this whole "maid business" and she'd "get better". I found I liked her instantly despite her abysmal skills at tying my corset. She was funny and relatable and, hopefully, she'd be an ally to me through these trying times.

When it was time to go down to the feast, Alex and Aunt Astra followed me down the stairs. The great hall was a large room with, possibly, the largest wooden table I'd ever seen. The entire length was laid out with more food than it would ever be possible for this group to eat and I found myself resenting them for their wastefulness. My eyes scanned the table for Lena, as the chatter around me was overwhelmingly loud. I couldn't explain what drew me to her, only that I was totally drawn and my magic seemed to sizzle powerfully within me when she was near which could be dangerous. All-in-all, I knew this was enough reason to stay away from her. I'd spend my whole life hiding my gift for this moment, for this alliance, and having it flare up by mere closeness to another person whilst in a kingdom that loathed magic was incredibly dangerous. Yet, having only met her for a moment, I found myself disappointed in my resolve to stay away from her. Before I knew it, I'd downed the entirety of the wine glass in front of me.

I felt a nudge of an elbow to my rib, my aunt reminding me to have some sense of decorum, but the entirety of the feast was overwhelming. The royal family asked me questions so rapidly it could almost be seen as an interrogation. Their advisors spoke with my aunt, trying to get a better sense of Kryptonian military customs. The wine was really beginning to dull my senses, which I was certainly thankful for. Despite being trained for this my entire life, I felt myself falling short. I knew after a few days I'd adjust and be fine, but for now, I felt as if I was drowning. As nice as Alexander seemed, I couldn't imagine a life with him. From our brief conversations, when we could talk quietly at the table without interruption, it was clear we had nothing in common but our sense of duty to our kingdoms. Of course, that could change, after all one doesn't learn everything about a person in an evening. To be honest, though, he did not seem very interested in me, either. Considering I'd spent my entire life in preparation for this moment and the future in this nation, I knew his rebuke should affect me more, but it doesn't. Mostly I just find myself exhausted.

We were on the final of seven courses and I'd barely touched my food. My aunt would quickly sweep it away to a servant so that nobody would notice. As dessert was being served, the large wooden doors to the great hall thudded open and Lena ran in. Next to me, Alexander was grumbled, "late as always," but nobody else paid Lena any attention, clearly showing these very late and headstrong entrances were quite commonplace around here. She dashed across the floor and slid on her bare-stockinged feet into the chair, immediately piling desserts onto her plate as if she'd been there for the entire dinner.

Beside me, Alexander's face stretched into an ominous grin directed across the table at his sister.

"So, Lena, Kara here will be needing some archery and horsemanship lessons to prepare herself for the wedding ceremony."

"Uh huh…" Lena responded slowly. "And why, perchance, is this information I must ve privy to, dearest brother?" She said this with a bite of peach cobbler stuffed in her mouth, Lillian glaring at her totally unamused.

"Well, because who better to teach her than you? After all, you are the best rider we have," he gave her a cheeky grin, clearly understanding that she'd be displeased with having her afternoons commandeered by a scheduled lesson.

The look on Lena's face changed as she was clearly trying to figure out how to get herself out of instructing me. However, her father and mother picked up on the conversation from the head of the table and decided this was a fabulous idea.

"It's decided, then!" Alexander clapped, glee evident in his tone of voice when he noticed his sister's eyes staring daggers back at him. "Guess you'll have to stay within the castle walls for a while, dear sister." He shot a wink at her, totally ignoring her glare. I chanced a look up at her face and felt the fire burn behind my eyes again.

She stood up quickly from the table, her chair scraping against the stone floor sounding much louder to my ears than it probably was to everyone else. Within a blink of an eye, she was behind my hair, hand burning an imprint on my shoulder I am certain I won't forget for some time. She leaned in, breath tickling my ear.

"Well, looks like you've expropriated my afternoons, buttercup, so you better be damn good damn quick so I can get them back, you'll find I don't do well within the confines of any set schedule. I appreciate my freedom above anything else, especially for the likes of training some spoiled lady how to ride a horse."

Her proximity to me forced me to close my eyes, the magic swimming in me boiling to the top. I slammed my eyes closed and asked to be excused from the table. Astra took my hand, gave some excuse for my sudden departure and lead me up to my rooms.

Later in the night, when I was alone in my bed and the fire had burned down to embers I contemplated the predicament I found myself in. I was so drawn to her, for reasons I could not fathom nor explain. The magic within me roared for release whenever I so much as looked upon her face. Yet, she seemed to loathe me. I was stripping her of her freedom, which she seemed to have ample amounts of for someone in her station. It seemed as if her family had just totally written her off as a wild card and left her wholly unchecked, expecting nothing from her but the behaviour she exhibited. I both envied her for that freedom and seethed that she possessed it when I was bound so thoroughly by the chains of duty. Worse, though, was that I was unsure I could control my magic around her and now I was bound to spend my afternoons for at least the next few months alone with just her.

She hated me for taking away her freedom.

I'd probably end up setting her on fire.

But still, I was drawn to her.

And this was going to end in a disaster.


	2. Chapter II - Lena

Chapter II - Lena

Today was the big day, I suppose. Big, in a sense, that it had been planned since before my birth. The securing of an alliance with our kingdom and the neighbouring nation of Krypton. This alliance was to happen through an arranged marriage between my brother Lex and Kara Zor-El of Krypton. It all seemed very barbaric for my tastes. Arranged marriages, I'd heard, were quite a popular occurrence in Krypton. They believed in matchmaking to ensure the best offspring. They were so focused on science they seemed to care naught about love. In our kingdom, however, arranged marriages were very uncommon, so the idea of one happening within my own family irked me. Particularly, because there had been recent whispers that my dearest mother intended to use me in much a similar fashion, selling me off to the highest bidder to wed and secure more alliances. She was nothing if not power hungry.

The idea of being chained to a marriage, much less a marriage in which I had no say and no choice whatsoever was far more terrifying to me than any other prospect. Freedom was more important to me than anything else. I oftentimes daydreamed about being born in a village far away from the confines of the castle wall, because although people don't seem to realize it, even a palace can be a prison. Simply to go outside the walls of the castle grounds, I'd have to dress in stable boy's clothing, tucking my hair up under a cap and smearing a bit of dust over my features so as not to look so clean. While this might sound a bit dreary, I lived for the days I managed to escape into the village outside the castle walls. There was so much life down there! You could go to a stall and buy any sort of food you were craving, any sort of clothing you fancied. It wasn't all picked for you prior. I oftentimes went into town with one of my best friends, a soldier in the legion. We would visit some of the seediest taverns in town and drink ale that would make anyone's stomach churn. I never felt freer or more alive than when I was out on these excursions.

I wished, with all my heart, that that was what my life could always be like. If I could, I'd hop on my horse, Oisín, ride away and never return to being a princess. I could run a stable in a small town and live off the land. Nobody would be able to boss me around but myself and life would be free and glorious. Wouldn't it? Instead, I was a subject of the crown. I was told what to eat, what to wear, where to be and when. Granted, ninety percent of the time I didn't listen. I would wear something else, be perpetually late to events that were "of the utmost importance", and I would sneak down to the kitchen to eat snacks I wanted rather than the lavish meals laid before me (if I even bothered to show up to the table with my family at all). While this might seem quite ungrateful, as if I am throwing my station and it's advantages away, one must understand, I am the bastard child of the King of the Kingdom of Earth. While this was the greatest kept secret amongst the royal household, they couldn't keep the rumour mill from spreading such things and, in this case, it was the truth, and Queen Lillian certainly never let me forget it.

Lex, being the biological son of both Lillian and Lionel could do no wrong and I could do no right. So, I figured if I was going to be branded as a troublemaker no matter what I did, I might as well live up to the reputation and have myself a bit of fun. Lex. however, was certainly not the angel they made him out to be. I am fairly certain, and my count may even be on the low side, he'd slept with at least three-fourths of the ladies at court. When a few of them had been found with child, they'd been whisked away to a country house with a substantial lot of gold and never heard from again. It didn't seem to bother him that he had children floating around in the countryside whom he'd never met and probably never would. On the other hand, I'd only had one romantic entanglement in my twenty-three years and it had ended in utter disaster. Once Queen Lillian caught wind of my relationship with Jackie, she'd sent her off to the farthest reaches of our kingdom, penniless. Lillian didn't seem to care that Jackie was one of the brightest scientific minds the Earth kingdom had, because Krypton had been sending a large number of Science Guild members over and they were, according to Lillian, far superior.

Kara Zor-El, my brother's betrothed, was a member of the Science Guild, her father was its leader. I found myself loathing her a bit for it. What was so great about her and the Kryptonians that we could afford to send Jackie away simply for wanting to be with me? It wouldn't surprise me if Lillian hoped that Kryptonian science could cure me of my, what she called "proclivities". Each time I Lillian would also speak of Lady Kara as if she was the daughter she'd always wanted and never had, at least around me. But I'd heard she wasn't too thrilled about the match because while Lady Kara was, from everything we'd heard at least, quite remarkable, Lillian thought nobody was good enough for Lex.

How little she knew her son. Yes, he was brilliant. Yes, he was handsome and gregarious. The part about him, however, that made everyone think he'd be a great king was a facade that was crumbling peoples' very eyes, but they were too idiotic to see it. He spoke more and more often about the kingship, and it seemed quite evident to me that he wasn't willing to wait very long to achieve the status and power being king would afford him. Part of me truly worried about the lengths he'd go to in order to become King. Our father was still relatively young and showed no signs of slowing down. There were fleeting moments when he was the wonderful and caring brother I'd grown up-the one that would protect me from Lillian's wrath. More often than not now, though, he was something else altogether, a power-hungry monster. He'd gotten this idea into his mind that all people gifted with magic should be not only expunged from the kingdom but shouldn't exist at all. He planned, in secret, a war with Terres-Interdites. He claimed it was merely a "war game" to keep his mind sharp, but I knew it was a solid formulation of a plan he'd enact as soon as he took the throne. He intended to use this alliance borne through his own marriage to secure help from the Kryptonian army. Their general, Astra In-Ze, was world renowned for her military strategy. She'd never lost even a battle for the banners of Krypton. Better yet, she was the Aunt of his soon-to-be bride. He believed this meant she could be leveraged if the need arose. She would be accompanying her niece to Earth and would stay here for four months after Kara's arrival to ensure her safety and to see that the wedding goes off without a hitch. Lex believed he could use this time to get in her good graces, and I fully believed he could, even though I wished that she would be able to resist his charms.

However naive it may be of me, I believe my brother can be saved. I can still see the good in him, and I hope more than anything it isn't too late to preserve that. At only twenty-eight years of age, he still has a lot of life left in front of him. He could do so much good for our kingdom if he didn't let blinding hatred of a class of gifted people ruin that. It was my sneaking suspicion, however, that he would. When he was twelve, an untrained magic user with an affinity for fire had accidentally set his best friend alight. My brother watched as he burned and couldn't do anything. The gifted child was sentenced to death, and my brother went to the execution, within the walls of the castle grounds, and no remorse could be seen in his eyes. I think that day profoundly changed him. The warm, loving, and carefree brother I'd once known began to deteriorate. He was replaced by someone who was great at faking a sense of duty and propriety. Outwardly, he excelled. Inwardly, he was fueled by hatred. We barely talked nowadays. In his eyes, I was the rebel shirking my duties. In mine, he was a shell of the brother I once knew and the man I thought he could be. I avoided as many family events as I could manage because I couldn't stand to see him thusly, and dealing with Lillian's vapidness on top of it was very low on my desires list.

Yet today, I would not be able to avoid attending any of the events without bringing a wrath so swift that it wouldn't even be worth disregarding my duties. Kara Zor-El would finally be arriving in National City, capital of the Earth Kingdom, after a fortnight of travel in a carriage. The poor girl was probably totally disheveled, which of course, meant that Lillian had ensured we would all be in our finest clothes as a show of strength, wealth, and superiority. Every outfit would be embroidered with gold thread, effectively making one tunic cost more than an average workers wages for two years. The whole thing made me feel sick, but mother was not to be disobeyed in this.

I sat at my boudoir the afternoon of Lady Kara's arrival. My maid, Sam, was tugging my unruly hair every which way trying to get it up in the coif my mother desired. I was told to wear a white velvet gown embroidered with the gold thread, however, I'd already decided my small act of rebellion for the day would be to wear the exact gown but in black. It was just enough to make me feel some sort of independence without drawing her ire, too much. Sam had long since learned not to attempt to talk me out of such schemes, so she focused on her work with my hair diligently.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have spent the morning riding, then I'd have a lot easier time with your hair," she grumbled.

"Come on, now, Sam...I had to blow off steam somehow. I am about to endure an entire day spent at my family's side. It's going to be exhausting. And you! You're going to have to spend the day calling me 'Lady Lena'. It will be terrible for both of us."

"I am cringing at the very thought," Sam said whilst tugging the last of my hair into place and securing it with a mother of pearl comb.

Sam was my maid only in name on the royal family staff ledgers. In actuality, she was my friend and confidant. I tried my best to make her never feel as if she was a servant. True, sometimes I did require help getting a dress on because corsets were a bloody nuisance. Anything I could possibly do by myself, I did, however. I also made sure part of my allowance went to her so she'd never have to hurt from money should she ever be able to escape the confines of this palace prison. I hoped one day she could have the life of joyous freedom that I never would.

"It's like they think you're royalty, or something, goodness," she teased with an overdramatic and exasperated sigh. "

"Oh, Sam, come off it. We both know you're far more suited to be royalty than I am."

"Of course we do! Think we could do a body swap? I hear those Kryptonians have superior science. All we have to do is get the Zor-El girl on our side and then make her create a body swap machine et voila! I'll be the queen we both always knew I could be!"

"My, my aren't we just positively devious, Miss Arias?"

Sam winked at me while she continued to place small mother of pearl tipped bobby pins in the bun on my head.

"Speaking of Lady Kara, are you excited to meet her?"

The stark difference between Sam and myself is that she is very good natured and social and I am neither of these things.

"Not in the slightest. What fun could she be? I've heard the Kryptonians are prissy and do not know how to have fun."

"She could be different," Sam shrugged. As she placed the last bobby pin in my hair and deemed we ready to greet the soon-to-be newest member of my family.

"She was raised basically for the sole purpose of this marriage. She'll do as duty dictates and you know as well as I do, duty rarely leaves the time nor the energy for fun."

It was fifteen minutes before we were all supposed to congregate outside to greet Lady Kara. My stomach made loud protestations at being kept from food any longer. I'd not had even a crumb the entire day. I made the decision to run to the kitchen and grab a bite before the festivities began. The kitchen was in a flurry of activity as cooks prepared for the upcoming, and rather large, feast that was going on tonight. I found myself assisting them without thinking about it. Before I knew it, it was ten minutes past when I was supposed to have been in front of the castle for Lady Kara's arrival. I grabbed a few biscuits, shoving them in my mouth, in anything but royal fashion, as I made haste to the drive. I was running so quickly that I didn't notice the uneven bit of cobblestone. I ended up tripping and crashing into a very solid and very warm body, bowling both of us over. Within a blink of an eye, the scene erupted in flashes of movement and I saw the horse's leg swinging in our direction. I grabbed her tightly and rolled us away from the hoof, landing with her breathing heavily on top of me.

I finally took a moment to look at my surroundings. I was currently underneath Kara Zor-El of Krypton. She was wearing a blue cotton dress with a simple red sash around her waist. I took a moment to study her astonishingly beautiful face. As my eyes roamed from her chin to her lips, then her eyes I noticed something strangely beautiful about them. On first glance, they were a gorgeous sky blue colour, but when I looked again there appeared to be streaks of orange forming somewhat of a starburst pattern through both of her eyes. Before I could get lost in how unique her eyes were she closed them and they did not reopen. It seemed as if it was a sign for me to get off of her, which I probably should have already done. I deftly lifted myself off her and, once standing, grabbed her hand to help her up from the cobblestone. Once she was standing I leaned in, noticing how her breath hitched as I whispered into her ear, "Welcome to Earth, Kara," and I smiled when I noticed her momentarily flabbergasted expression. No doubt because I hadn't addressed her by her proper title, which was what I was going for.

I stepped away, winking at her, before stepping to the allotted place by my family. As the whole introduction droned on I noticed her glancing my way and couldn't help but to wonder why. Part of me couldn't deny that I liked her eyes on me, however. When the introductions were finally over I was incredibly relieved and immediately retired to my chambers until the feast.

Apparently being late to the feast didn't get me out of anything. Generally, when I show up late, I am ignored with the prevalent attitude being, "oh that's just Lena, she can't do anything right" and I am able to grab some food and scurry away. At yesterday night's feast, however, my brother seemed to hone in on me and want to make me suffer for my insolence. These are the circumstances that led to me standing in the stables waiting for Kara to arrive for her first in a long series of horsemanship and archery lessons. She was already ten minutes late and I was becoming more agitated as time went on. When she arrived, however, my mouth went dry. She was wearing a perfectly tailored riding outfit in a deep blue, her light brown leather boots wrapping perfectly around her calf and her matching gloves were exquisite. Her hair was tied back in a french braid but a few errant strands escaped and framed her face with soft curls. As she drew closer to me she smiled sheepishly, by way of an apology. Part of me melted a bit the overall look of her with the sheepish grin and the tight-fitting riding outfit, but this was not a time to show any weakness.

"You're late," I deadpanned, trying to muster a facial expression that indicated my displeasure.

"Mmm, yes, well I've learned from the best."

A sense of humour? What a delight. As quick as my brain was, I couldn't think of anything witty to respond to that and, thus, I decided the best thing to do would be to simply get down to the business at hand. I stormed off rather gruffly, leaving her literally in my dust for a moment before I heard her stir behind me and follow me further into the stables. I brought her to Niamh's stable and showed her how to properly saddle her. Though Kara seemed nervous, she was a quick study and in no time we had Niamh saddled up and ready to go.

"She's a beautiful horse," Kara commented as we walked Niamh towards Oisín's stable.

"She was the first horse I ever fully trained by myself," I said quietly, with a glimmer of pride lacing my words.

Niamh truly was beautiful. Her coat was such a bright white that it almost gave the appearance of shining like diamonds when the sun hit it. She was so well trained if I do say so myself, that I knew she wouldn't be any trouble for a beginner rider. I led both horses out to a medium sized circular enclosure, leaving Kara to hold the horses' reins whilst I ran back to the tack room to grab her a mounting block.

"Alright, now stand on the mounting block and bend your left leg at the knee to give yourself some leverage. I'll help you up this time but eventually you'll have to do it from the mounting block on your own and, of course, the goal is to get good enough to no longer require the block at all."

She bent her knee as instructed and I swiftly grabbed her behind her knee and helped heft her up onto Niamh's back. Once in the saddle, she seemed to have trouble finding her balance.

"Thanks for the warning that you were about to fling me to another planet," she grumbled, and I allowed a smile to tug across my lips.

"Are horses so out of place for you Kryptonians that you find them to be another planet entirely?" I had trouble keeping my laughter from bursting through at the look of utter disdain she tossed in my direction. To do so, I decided the best course of action was just to go into teaching mode.

"I know it feels more natural to have the stirrup underneath the arch of your foot, but you'll have less control that way. You need to keep the stirrup under the ball of the foot. This will allow you more freedom to grip the horse with your knees, which is what you need to do, and tightly. Don't worry, this won't hurt the horse. After the ride today you'll find that your thigh muscles especially, but also your calf muscles will be really sore. This is a good indicator that these are the muscles most needed. Therefore, if you're sitting properly in the saddle, if at any time you're not, stand up in the stirrups and quickly sit back down. Standing up forces your lower legs into the correct position and is, therefore, the quickest way to fix bad posture."

If she was overwhelmed by this information, she handled it with grace, simply nodding at my instructions as if cataloging them in her head was something she did with ease.

"First I'll lead you around this enclosure until you give me the go-ahead that you feel comfortable. If I see anything off with the way you're sitting we can correct that. Then, once you feel comfortable, and please let me know, we can go out for a short and easy trail ride. Does that sound alright?"

The orange shimmer appeared to return to her eyes and I wondered if it was simply a trick of the sun, she closed them briefly, and when she opened them again they were back to her usual sky blue. There was a crinkle between her brows and I found myself wanting to reach up and smooth it away. Just as quickly as it appeared, however, it was wiped away. She smiled brightly and nodded. I began leading her around the enclosure and fielded her many questions about horses and their importance in Earth culture. I was thankful she kept the topic of conversation to something I was passionate about. It made a day I was fully expecting to be rather awkward quite pleasant. However, I had to remind myself I couldn't get attached to her. For one, she was betrothed to my brother. If I felt anything for her, even so, something so little as friendship, I am not sure what I'd do. I certainly couldn't let a friend marry my brother in his current state. Yet, I knew the importance of this alliance for my family and knew my place was to stay as far away from it as I possibly could. That certainly involved avoiding any sort of entanglement with Kara Zor-El.

We had been laughing and chatting away when this storm cloud of realization clouded my judgment and I knew my mood swing was sudden and she certainly realized it as well.

"Lady Lena, are you alright?" The tone of her voice was warm and concerned and I found myself wanting to drown in the musicality of it.

"First of all," I began coldly "I'd prefer you not address me as 'Lady Lena', I loathe formal titles and find them constraining. Secondly, how I am is of no concern to you. This lesson is over, we are headed back to the stables now. I'll unsaddle the horses myself as I've heard you have some sort of social gathering to get to. Until tomorrow, Lady Kara."

"I sincerely apologize for whatever I did to cause you offense, Lena," she said, quietly, her bright smile from a moment before dulling, and I hated myself for it. I reached out so she could take my hand to help her dismount and when her hand touched mine a static shock went through my hand. I looked up into her face and the orange was back lacing her eyes and she shut them again as if looking upon my face was too painful for her.

In an instant, she was off the horse and running away from me and back towards the castle.

As much as I hated myself for it, I found myself staring at her as she retreated and wishing it was time for our next lesson together. These thoughts were dangerous, however, and I had to stop them. I had to keep her from liking me, and the cold demeanor seemed to dim her brightness. So that's how I would have to be for both of us to survive.

I knew I could do it, I had been raised to perfect it from the Queen. As I walked back to the castle, though, all I could think about was solving the mystery of her gorgeous eyes and wishing I could just stay lost in them.

Despite my best efforts to think the contrary, after only one brief period of time alone with Kara Zor-El I knew one thing for certain: my brother did not deserve her. The problem remained, there wasn't anything I could do about it. This alliance was over twenty years in the making.

Yet I knew I had to put my mind to solve it, because I was drawn to her, and I couldn't watch her drown.

Either way, this was surely going to end in disaster.


	3. Chapter III - Lena

The weeks seemed to drag on and on. I wasn't wont for things to do, of course, the Luthors kept me quite busy. It was more that I felt utterly useless. In Krypton, I had been included in making important decisions, both political and within my own family. I had grown up being taught how to manage such things, as my family anticipated it would be part of my role in the Earth Kingdom. However, that was not the case. Oftentimes King Lionel and Lord Alexander would be locked away within their council chambers for hours. Both would come out red-faced and it seemed as if they accomplished nothing. In fact, both lamented about such occurrences. Yet they wouldn't hear of getting a fresh perspective from an outside source that could maybe lessen the frustration of such meetings and accomplish something rather than a stalemate. Rather, they had me assisting in planning asinine social events that held no happiness for me overall, and very little challenge for my brain.

Astra and I discussed their lack of vision intensely in our daily meetings. To be quite honest, I am not sure how I'd handle this situation here in if Astra weren't by my side. As much as I loved and respected my mother and father, Aunt Astra had always been my closest confidant. Her mind and mine meshed so well together and this was something I lacked with any other member of my family. Thus, it was so that during one of our meetings I offered her commentary on my fears about marrying Lord Alexander. It seems to me, the more time I spent with him the more his true colours showed. Even when he was being friendly there seems to be a dark weight in his eyes. I couldn't quite put my finger on. Lord Alexander had never been anything but cordial and kind to me, and he was certainly gregarious and outgoing at meals and our daily walks through the palace gardens. I would even go so far as to call him charming, however, many of his smiles didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. I kept telling myself that I should give him the benefit of the doubt and that these observances were most likely a conjuration of my worried mind. A mind troubled with the realization that when I married him what little freedom and choice I had left would be gone.

To ease my mind and attempt to clear up my vision of my betrothed, I attempted to ask Lena about her brother during one of our afternoon riding lessons. We were both on horseback riding side by side at a leisurely pace. I found our daily rides, for the most part, very calming. Lena never pushed me too hard or too fast. The last week or so we'd just been going out on slow strolls so I could get used to spending a lot of time in the saddle. I knew sooner, rather than later, our training would have to intensify, but presently I found the lessons the most relaxing part of my day. Lena had continued to be very distant in our time together. More often than not, her only words to me in an entire lesson were bits of instruction. I tried to break the ice by talking about Alexander, but that merely seemed to draw her further into herself. She went utterly silent for the next few minutes and when she did speak, it was so softly I could barely hear her.

"I still recall the day they brought me to live in the castle for good. My mother had died…" she paused perhaps realizing this was not commonly shared knowledge. I looked at her face and watched it change from shock that she'd let something that was a well-guarded secret slip out so easily, to determination and, perhaps, relief that somebody else finally knew.

"The queen was so cold to me, no doubt because I looked very much like my mother and it wasn't a pleasant reminder for her. Although I was standing right next to the hearth, I was shivering at her coldness. Lex was sitting across the room playing a game of chess by himself. Without even a question he waved me over to play the game. I was sad, and scared, and out of place and he made me feel welcome. I beat him in that first game and I recall Lillian sitting over by the hearth glaring daggers at me because I was better at something than her precious son, but he just smiled happily and reset the board. The loss didn't affect him one bit."

It was the most Lena had said to me in weeks, and I found I greatly missed the musicality of her voice. She pulled back at Oisín's reins, drawing him to a standstill. Her eyes were far away and she was very clearly lost in thought. I remained quiet, committing her story to memory and giving her time to collect her thoughts.

"Kara," it was spoken barely above a whisper and before I knew it, the wind carried the word away. I wished so desperately it hadn't because I wanted to store the sound of my name on her tongue in my mind forever.

"He is not that little boy anymore, be careful."

With that, she tugged at Oisín's reins turning him back in the direction we'd come from and they broke out in a gallop and disappeared leaving me sitting on the crest of the hill staring out at the endless blue sky and mulling over her warning in my mind.

By the time I'd made it back to the stables, Lena was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, I was far enough into my lessons to know how to properly remove Niamh's saddle and bridle and store the equipment in the tack room. I stepped out into the aisle of the barn and found Alexander waiting for me, leaning up against the wall. Lena's warning plagued my mind and I found it difficult to paint a smile onto my face, though I managed, as I walked up and greeted him.

"Lord Alexander, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you down to the stables?"

He reached for my hand and kissed it genially and I couldn't help but think that his lips felt rough and cracked upon the smooth skin of the back of my hand.

"You, of course. I was hoping to speak with Lena about how she felt your riding progress was coming along, but it seems the jailbird has flown the coop."

"Oh," I hesitated slightly, trying to come up with a valid excuse for Lena's absence. "We've only just finished, the lessons are going well, we merely finished early today because she had a dress fitting for the gown she'll be wearing to the wedding."

"Ah yes, I do believe I'd heard that." He hadn't, I made it up one second beforehand. Nonetheless, I was pleased he bought the excuse, as I certainly didn't want his wrath befalling Lena. "How are you settling in here? Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" He flashed an easy smile, and to my surprise, it reached his eyes.

"I am fine, my Lord. Thank you for inquiring. You do have a beautiful home. And my lessons are going well, I feel far more comfortable on horseback than I did upon my arrival. A sure boon to your sister's skill and instruction." He was still smiling, and he seemed to have a carefree air about him that I'd not seen in my time here.

"Forgive me, but you seem so carefree today whereas lately, you've seen a bit...stressed. Did something good happen?"

He blinked back his surprise at my observation and his grin spread even wider, causing a slight dimple on his handsome left cheek.

"Father and I have finally been able to make some breakthroughs with the council in regards to the situation in Terres-Interdites. There have been more and more skirmishes at the border recently and there have been whispers that the tribes are uniting under one banner. We've just decided to send ambassadors to meet with this new leader, whom we do not even have a name for. Father is urging a diplomatic path, but he won't' see logic. Magic users are so bloody unpredictable that they won't see reason. I believe diplomatic efforts won't succeed and he'll be forced to see things from my point of view. In any case, the ball is now rolling. Surely you understand how dangerous it can be if the city-states unite, having shared a border with Terres-Interdites in Krypton, as well."

"I…" Suddenly, words faltered and I was left flabbergasted and speechless. Had my ears deceived me? Was he saying he hoped diplomatic efforts failed so his kingdom could be plunged into all-out war? He seemed to take my inability to form a coherent sentence as a lack of interest.

"I am sorry, all of this talk of politics must be terribly boring for you. We should talk about something different and more in-line with your interests. How is the planning coming along for the state dinner next week?"

I felt his hand brush against mine and within a moment he was intertwining his fingers with my own.

"No, your highness. Quite the contrary, I find myself intrigued. Tell me more about your latest council meeting."

"Well, for one, Lena decided to make a rare appearance. She is supposed to attend all of them, but she never does. To see such intelligence wasted is a travesty. A few members of the council suggested we should send ambassadors, as I mentioned earlier, and that was the prevailing vote. Councilman Jones said all of the trouble we've had at the border could have been prevented if only we'd set up an alliance with Terres-Interdites before now. I tried to tell them we couldn't simply align our kingdom with a land full of apostates and heretics. Lena used her usual quick wit for a sarcastic comment rather than actual useful advice. I swear that girl..."

We were coming up towards a bench just outside the jasmine trellis that served as a wall for the gardens. He sat down on the bench and I followed suit. Much to my chagrin, he kept his hand laced with mine. I found our hands didn't fit together, and the stretch of his fingers between mine caused my hand mild discomfort. The longer he kept his hand entwined with mine, the clammier it got. It didn't seem to faze him.

"She didn't always use to be like this," he mumbled with obvious disdain lacing his voice. "At one time she understood what duty was. Now she just comes to council meets and mutters sarcastic comments such as, 'Clearly the best response to something you don't understand is to attack it'."

I had to stifle a smile as I imagined Lena slouched in an overly large council room chair muttering sarcastic comments that were actually keen observations.

"My father and Lena have always been soft, preferring diplomatic measures over something that will swiftly end a conflict. While that approach certainly works in some methods, my mother and I believe the time for diplomacy is at an end. Small bands of rogue magic users have popped up and wreaked havoc in the countryside and we've gotten reports that some groups are forming in the city, as well. It is only a matter of time before the rest of the council realizes what mother and I already have, they are too far gone for diplomatic measures to be successful."

The back of my eyes began to prickle as anger washed over me. I began to run my forefinger and middle finger, of the hand not trapped in his clutch, along the length of my palm.

"Are you certain there isn't some other way to placate these magic users and prevent further violence? Perhaps you can give them a little leeway, a sanctuary town within the Earth Kingdom where the can practice magic without being sent to the desert. Sometimes the smallest of goodwill goes a long way."

His face grew stern when I finished my comment and his hand squeezed around mine just enough to make it uncomfortable. In an instant, however, it loosened and a genial smile crossed his features.

"Unfortunately, as magic is banned within the Earth Kingdom, these magic users are apostates. We can't simply give them a place to practice. That would be akin to saying to a murderer, 'I know you like to murder people, unfortunately that is banned in our kingdom, but since we like to be lenient we can create a free-for-all murder zone for you. Have at it.' It just wouldn't be a wise course of action."

My years of training kicked in, despite my anger at these comments, and my face was calm and steady, a pleasant smile hiding the raging turmoil beneath the surface.

"You misunderstand me, Lord Alexander, I believe it is crucial to find a proposition that satisfies both sides and lessens the backlash from either party. Perhaps it would do us a world of good to learn what they want and what we can give them within the confines of the Earthen laws?"

"You sound just like Lena, now" he muttered. "My father believed she had a good point when she said much the same thing in her only other comment in the council meeting today. They think that we should gather more information. However, these bands of heretic magic users haven't been easy to track down. Since they are breaking Earthen laws they've, understandably, kept a very low profile. In any case, it is one of the methods we intend to employ. We are going to send spymasters out throughout the city to dredge up information and we are also sending an envoy to meet with some of the city-states at the border. I don't expect much will come of either of these endeavors, but, it's good that we are finally doing something. Any action is better than inaction."

I thought of Lena and her intelligent and kind eyes, how starkly different they were from her brother's. The paintings I'd seen of him growing up showed a child, teenager and young man with bright blue eyes. The reality was vastly different; his eyes were a slate grey colour that made him seem colder. I wasn't sure how to handle the fact that the more I learned about the two of them, the more I was drawn to her and wanted to distance myself from him. Despite the fact that she didn't seem very interested in being my friend. I knew I needed to stop focusing so much on getting her approval or entering her good graces and, instead, find a way to like my future husband. However, every time he opened his mouth this task seemed to become infinitely more arduous.

So lost was I in thought that I didn't realize we had re-entered the castle. We were in a section I had not yet been to. It was quite dim in this area, the torches on the wall doing very little to cast light into the damp air.

"You know, there are secret passages down here. One of them leads to Lena's chambers and I used to use it all the time to startle her when we were children. She'd open her closet doors and I'd jump out at her." He laughed softly and bowed his head at the memory. "We were a lot closer back then. Those days seem so very long ago, now." His tone was washed with disappointment and nostalgia for times long since past. "Surely she must realize this wild behaviour cannot last forever. We are in a precarious situation, and she'll need to marry to secure alliances. She's old enough now to place duty before selfishness." He sighed and waved his hand in front of himself as if he the wind would take these comments about his sister away and clear the air.

Unfortunately, the hand gesture didn't work and his comments clung to the recesses of my mind long after he had uttered them. When he asked if he could kiss me, I barely paid any mind before saying yes. I was still trapped in thoughts of Lena, which I figured might help me actually survive the kiss. After all, I'd have to get used to kissing him. When his lips touched mine, however, I felt nothing. My back was against the cold stone wall and the kiss brought me no warmth whatsoever. His hand was too large when it cupped my cheek, his fingers covering my ears entirely which make me anxious and overwhelmed. I finally managed to break the kiss, and stepped back. He offered to walk me back to my chambers but I insisted I would be fine, thanked him for the afternoon, and hastily retreated on promises that I would see him tomorrow for my riding lesson with Lena since he insisted on viewing my progress for himself.

I thought about what he said, about them marrying Lena off. Somehow, it broke something small inside me. I couldn't imagine her beautiful spirit being chained down in a loveless marriage. I had trained my whole life for a marriage of duty. I was prepared and, thus, understood that my life wasn't my own. But her? No. Her freedom was more important to her than anything else and I thought the lack of it might crush her beautiful spirit. I still couldn't place a finger on why I was so drawn to her and I wished with ever fibre of my being that I wasn't. Every time I was near her I felt my magic crackle within me, too strong to be normal. As odd as it seemed, though she never made any sort of attempt at friendship, something told me she was drawn to me, too. That if an arrow came whizzing out of nowhere she'd jump in front of it to save me, just as I'd do the same for her.

These thoughts, however, were preposterous and mostly like folly. A hypothesis for which I had no evidence to prove and with the way her silence stretched into the warm afternoon air during every single one of our lessons, I never would. Yet despite my understanding of this, I fell asleep wishing I could hear her musical voice.

I woke the next morning hoping for thunderclouds and rain, anything that would prevent my riding lesson for the day. I'd hoped if it were canceled, Alexander would forget that he intended to sit in on the next one. As luck would have it, however, the day was absolutely stunning and the afternoon arrived much quicker than I'd hoped.

By the time I'd arrived down at the stables, Lena and Alexander had all three horses saddled and ready to go. They were wearing matching green riding outfits with the Luthor royal crest emblazoned on the chest in gold thread, one Lena never wore in our private lessons. Her hair was back in a fishtail braid, which allowed me to see the sharpness of her jawline in profile. She looked so beautiful it was nearly painful to look upon her. Heat prickled at the back of my eyes at the sight of her and I shut them, silently sending a prayer to Rao to keep my magic in check.

We set off in amicable silence, Lex leading us on the trail riding his chestnut mare, Lena following him and I was in the back. I found it exceedingly hard to focus on the trail when Lena's back was so divinely placed before me, the muscles in it rippling underneath her perfectly tailored doublet with every movement. Thankfully, Niamh had taken this trail so often she didn't really need my guidance so I spent the whole ride to the meadow daydreaming. I was vaguely aware that they were talking to one another but I couldn't for the life of me recall what about. When we arrived at the clearing I noticed archery targets placed in strategic locations throughout.

Lena hopped off Oisín with ease and went to the small shed a couple hundred feet from where we were and she grabbed out two bows and two quivers of arrows for herself and Alexander. She tossed his at him and walked over to where I was still on Niamh's back.

"Hey there," she said softly as she smiled up at me. "Want me to help you get down?" I nodded and she reached for my hand, and it was if an electric current went between our two bodies. My grip on her hand faltered and I ungraciously tumbled of Niamh's back and crashed into Lena. Both of our front sides were fully pressed into one another, but she managed to stay standing, essentially holding me in a tight embrace. My breathing was shallow and the heat in my eyes was at boiling point as I crumpled to the ground to remove myself from the contact. Alexander was about five hundred feet from us not paying any attention to what was going on whilst he prepared to run the obstacle course.

Lena knelt down, and interlaced the fingers of her right hand with mine. I just stared down at our interlocked hands and marveled at how perfectly they fit with one another's. My mind went blank and I clearly wasn't responding to Lena's gentle tugs so she knelt down to look at me. Her face was inches from mine, her voice soft when it passed her lips. I was drowning in my own mind, trying to keep my magic in check and I barely heard her. She moved closer, her thumb stroking my inner palm, in slow repetitive motions, something she must have seen me doing before.

"Kara, stay with me. Calm down. It's going to be okay." Her lips were against the shell of my ear and the warmth of her breath sent shivers down my spine. I know she was trying to calm me, but the heat behind my eyes was molten now at her proximity.

"Look at me," she said softly. I knew I shouldn't. I knew exactly what she'd see. Yet against my better judgment, I opened my eyes and stared directly into hers.

She gasped when she saw them, and I immediately hung my head and closed my eyes in shame. Not a second later I felt her hand on my chin gently nudging my face back up to look at her.

"You are exquisite."

Before her words could really register properly in my brain, Alexander was hollering from his horse and calling Lena a chicken. She smiled at me and told me she'd go beat him swiftly and get me out of here.

"What are you two even doing over there?" he called out.

"Kara isn't feeling well and has a bit of a chill so I am just going to give her my doublet and as soon as a kick your butt I'll bring her back to the stables if you're okay leading Niamh back?"

"Sure, sure, now hurry up!"

Lena stood up swiftly and began removing her doublet leaving her clad only in her riding breeches, boots, gloves and a white tank top she'd worn under the doublet. She wrapped the doublet around my sounders, whispered that she'd be right back, and walked towards Oisín. My mouth went dry at the sight of her in that tank top and remained dry as she rode Oisín in perfect form, hitting every single archery target with a bull's-eye. She seemed almost as if she was an extension of her horse and it was quite honestly the most beautiful thing I'd ever witnessed. Alexander was impressive, as well, but he couldn't match her grace. I could see in the expression on his face that he knew he'd been beat, but he smiled good-naturedly and told her he'd definitely win next time (he wouldn't).

He came up as Lena was buttoning her doublet back up and kissed me on the hand. I swear I saw her jaw clench, but I was probably imagining things.

"Well, my lady, I do hope you feel better before dinner tonight."

"I will, my lord, thank you for your concern but I assure you, it's not necessary. I'll be fine for dinner. My thanks for accompanying us on the ride, it was quite pleasant."

"My pleasure, I'll see you later?"

His smile was so genuine and it made his eyes sparkle. I could definitely see some of the brother Lena spoke up in him right now. I wished he were always like this and I could tell by her sad smile that Lena did, too.

"Of course." I curtsied before him, awkward I assure you as I wasn't wearing a dress, and took Lena's proffered hand to help me mount Oisín behind her. We set off down a trail I wasn't familiar with that led us by the river, the sun was just beginning to set and the sky was awash with colour and that reflected on the calm surface of the river.

"I won't ever tell anyone, you know? I swear it."

Maybe it was foolhardy of me to do so, but I believed her.

"Do you have trouble controlling it?" She steered Oisín to the river to allow him to get a drink and turned ever so slightly in the saddle to look at me.

"Not usually. Only sometimes when I am anxious, scared, or angry. I'll feel the heat prickle behind my eyes but I've never lost control.

"Do I make you any of those things?" She asked softly, her voice cracking slightly at the end.

"No! Of course not. Why would you think that?"

I knew why, though. It was because my eyes oftentimes lit up orange around her.

"I'm sorry," I started, not certain how to phrase this. "There's just," I stammered, "there's just something about you. I can't control it as easily when I'm around you. You should stay away from me, I'm dangerous, particularly to you."

"You won't hurt me."

"I very well could hurt you!" To prove it to her, I took her hand and placed it upon my cheek. It fit my jaw perfectly and she spread her fingers so as not to cover my ear, as if she knew that made me anxious. It was almost instantaneous, the touch of her skin on my cheek set the fuel behind my eyes alight and the heat burned to escape.

"See?" I almost sobbed "I'm dangerous and I'd never forgive myself if I...if I lost control and hurt you. You have to stay away."

She ran her forefinger gently across my cheek.

"Can you not see that I've tried that? I've spent the last four months keeping you at a distance because you're promised to him... and not...Surely you feel it though? This thing between us. It has to be why your magic flares up around me."

"Lena! Of course, I feel it; I've felt it from the moment you crashed into me when I arrived. There's nothing we can do, though. I'm dangerous to you and promised to him and that's it. I will do my duty, especially if it means keeping you safe."

"Then there is nothing else to say, I suppose." Her hand slipped from my cheek and the searing pain behind my eyes morphed into a dull ache.

"Lena, I…" but she wasn't listening anymore, she'd nudged Oisín into gear and we were barreling back towards the stables.

A set of six black horses in black funeral livery were exiting the main gate of the castle proper when we arrived back and Lena jumped off Oisín's back and bolted into the castle without another word.

The black riders meant only one thing.

A member of the royal family was dead.


End file.
